January 13, 2016 News

Birthdays: January 14, Maggie Elias; January 15, Lucas McCormick, Cameri Mills, Shawn Baus, Scott Rome, Rose Jones, Lu Ann Doerr Weatherby, Andra Schwindt Allen, Quinn Anderson; January 16, Debbie Anderson, Bryce Conner, Kaden Foust; January 17, Helena McGaughey, Shirley Harp, Kelly Harp, Susie Parsons; January 18, Betty Fear, Kyle Rodeman; January 19, Kellan Wiebe.

Anniveraries: January 14, Kellye and Sandy Irvin, Brett and Holly Gilbert.

The 20th Annual Bleeding Kansas Historical Series 2016 will be held at Constitution Hall State Historic Site in Historic Compton, Kansas at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Suggested donation $3.00 for adults. The series begins on January 31 with the titled “Founding the Soldier State: How Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War Shaped Kansas by Deb Goodrich; February 7, Firebrand: The Amazing Store of Bleeding Kansas Fighter August Bondi by Aaron Barnhart; February 14, Soldiers in the Army of Freedom: The First Kansas Colored and the Civil War's first African American Combat Unit by Ian Spurgeon and James Lane Pioneering Patriot by Avery Munns; February 21, Free State Families of Kanwaka, Profile of the 1855 Ohio Immigrant Party by Monica Davis and Jan Elder; February 28, Border Wars Ballads: Territorial and Civil War Songs of Kansas and Missouri by Dr. Carl Graves; and March 6 , Colonel Henry Titus: The Osama Bin Laden of the Abolitionist Press by Professor Antonio de la Cova. Plan to attend one or all of these events. We will put in more information about each week's program the Wednesday before the date. In McCracken we have had the privilege of attending lectures on many of the speakers. It will be worth your time to attend. Thanks to Tim Rues, curator of the Constitution Hall State Historic Site for providing this information.

Mark your calendars for the 30th annual McCracken Rodeo. Planning will be January 17, Sunday, at the Fire Building at 7:00 p.m. Come with at least five different ideas for the parade, specialty acts, t-shirt design, tickets and any other ideas for a great rodeo. A meeting will be held each third Sunday evening of each month.

A bridal shower was held on Saturday, January 9, at the Golden Agers in McCracken in honor of Theresa Schippers, bride elect of William Greenway. They will wed on February 20, 2016 at the First United Methodist Church in Hays. The family and friends who gathered for the shower enjoyed games, advice, gifts and delicious desserts.

On Saturday, January 9, Bert Jacobs and Lynn Kochenower spent the day with Shannon and Casey Shaw and kids and watched the Chiefs beat the Texans, had steaks and other good food. Then also played pitch.

OOPS!!!! Elaine Littler forgot to list that Scott, Amber, James and Jacque Littler were at her Christmas celebration. They were there and we had a lot of fun with the twins.

Dennis Elias has been transferred to the Hutchinson Hospital in Hutchinson. The address is 1701 East 23rd, Hutchinson, Kansas 67502, Room 4110 if you wish to send a card. His company this weekend was Travis, Tina, Katie and Tanner Elias, Carolyn and Dave Davenport, Tyrel Elias and Quentin.

A BIG thank you to Mark McCormick for taking down all the Christmas decorations in the City Park.

Jenna Higgins, Rachel Kimberling, Kara Maloney and Hannah Arnspiger flew to Austin from Wichita and visited Julia Filardi this past week. They walked about 4 miles, a detour through downtown Austin. It was beautiful. They went to a really cool place to eat called Hulu Hut which is a Mexican - Hawaiian restaurant and ate outside; they rode on Julia’s boyfriend’s boat and saw Andy Roddick’s house which is on the lake; attended the movie Center Point and just enjoyed the wonderful city. Julia’s dad flew all the girls down and back with all his frequent flier $$. They stayed about a week.

Tim Rues was featured in the Douglas County paper with the 20th annual Bleeding Kansas program series in Historical Lecompton, Kansas. The series start Sunday, January 31st at 2:00 p.m. with author historian Deb Goodrich. She will be talking about ‘How Kansas became known as the soldier state’ because it had the highest concentration of Union soldiers of any state.

Jerry officiated the Andale – Wichita Collegiate game in Andale Friday night, Darrin Murray was in attendance. Since Tanner and Jenna are no longer in high school playing sports, he officiates 2-3 times a week.

Colby High School and nine other schools participated in the 22nd annual Cougar Wrestling Invitational Tournament held in Salina this past weekend. He placed first in his weight class defeating his opponent who was ranked 2nd. He is a senior and son of Travis and Tina Elias. Attending the tournament was Travis, Tina and Katie Elias, Dave and Carolyn Davenport and Quintin Elias.

Rose Diehl and the dogs spent the weekend in McCracken visiting her mom, Arline Rues. Les was sick but she thinks the real reason he didn’t come is because we do not get ESPNU in McCracken and he wanted to watch his Jayhawks in Topeka on TV. Cathy and Ron Casey spent the weekend in McCracken also visiting with Arline.

Rose has been taking her clocks and watches to Everett Renberger’s Jewelry in Ness City for several years as there in no one in Topeka who does this anymore, he told her he has been doing these repairs since he was 13.

History Notes 1973 January 13

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lovitt celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a family gathering at their home. Cathie Ryan is attending Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Weltmer moved into their new home in LaCrosse. Charlie Zinn was high 10 and high 30 in bowling with scores of 224 and 623. Jerry Schutte, student of the Ft. Hays Art Department has his art works accepted for the 5th annual National Art Show in Colorado Springs. Subscription rates for the Rush County News will rise January 1. Rates In the county, $6.50; in Kansas, $7.50; and elsewhere in the US $8.50 all plus tax. The McCracken B-team scored 111 points against Healy, scoring 45 points in the third quarter. A total of 13players saw action and only four were in double figures. Chuck Higgins 27; Jerry Higgins 18; Glen Ryan and Steve Foreman each had 12. The McCracken Fillies lost to Healy by a score of 50-24. Team members are Debbie Baus, Cheryl Davis, Nancy Higgins, Marsha Healy, Kim McCormick Terri Rogers, Paulette Healy, Ruth Johnston, Donna Greenway, and Diane McFarren. Coach is Peggy Crawford. USD 305 has taken steps to conserve energy, All classroom temperatures will be kept at 68* during school time. MHS star, 6”5’ Gary Schuckman tore the ligaments in his knee and will undergo surgery Wednesday. MHS football players receiving honors were John Elmore and Steve Swartz. Both were first team picks on both offense and defense for the South 50-6 league. Jim Casey was picked on the defensive team, Randy Taylor, Dan Conner and Don Casey received honorable mention. Grades 5-8 will present a medley entitled ‘Melodies of the Manager’ and the high school vocal department will present the musical ‘Gilt of the Magi’ at the grade school December 20. In the 7th grade game with Sacred Heart Mustangs of Ness City, the Colts won 34-33. Shannon McKinney scored 21 points, Kellye Irvin 8. The 8th grade team fell 37=35 with Layne Morgan leading all scorers with 16 followed by Mark Baus with 8. McCracken Library Board members were Grace Owen, president; Lucille Lamer, vice-president, Twila Higgins, sec’y; Mary Anne Taylor, treasurer.